Palestine Today 07 27 2010

New report reveals startling numbers behind the shrinking Palestinian residency of East Jerusalem and settlers in the West Bank continue their outburst these stories and more coming up, stay tuned.


The Jerusalem Center for Social and Economical Rights (JCSER) issued a report detailing the latest numbers of Palestinians who lost their residency rights in occupied East Jerusalem due to Israeli restrictions and measures.

The Israeli Ministry revoked residency rights of 721 Palestinians, including 108 who lost this right since the beginning of this year until June 6. This means that a total of 829 Palestinians were stripped of their residency rights in 1.5 years.

The number of Palestinians who were stripped of their residency rights since Israel illegally captured and occupied East Jerusalem in 1967 until mid June 2010 has arrived to 86,226.

Over 1000 family reunification applications were filed with Israel in 2009, only 258 were approved.

The numbers presented by the Center are not entirely accurate according to its head Ziad al-Hammoury. He says that the numbers are nowhere near the real impact as hundreds of families are refused the right to reunify their families, parents are prevented from registering new-born children in Jerusalem and Palestinians who study or work abroad have their IDs revoked upon entrance to the country.

Settlers continued a streak of 'price tag' reprisals for the demolition of a settler house built in contravention of the construction freeze placed on illegal settlements at the end of last year.

Monday night settlers blocked 11 intersections throughout the West Bank and were organized by the Samaria and Benjamin regional councils.

In the Palestinian village of Nabi Saleh, near Ramallah, there are reports that settlers entered the village in the night and engaged in acts of vandalism and violence before retreating. No one was injured.

"As we near the end of the building freeze, the public feels that it is necessary to stick to our guns and make it clear that if the freeze is extended, there will be no peace in Judea and Samaria," stated Benny Katzover, a settler leader.

Early Tuesday morning about 1300 Israeli security personnel watched and guarded a demolition team as they decimated a Bedouin village near Ramat.

45 structures were destroyed and the residents vowed to rebuild even in the face of an administration set to destroy what they build.

A leaked memo going around the Palestinian Authority leadership indicates that Palestinians can only expect US help if they enter direct talks immediately.

US envoy to the region, George Mitchell, indicated that a move to direct talks would be rewarded in an extension of the construction settlement freeze and an end to demolitions in East Jerusalem.


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